Review: Daughters of Rome by Kate Quinn

Title: Daughters of Rome
Author: Kate Quinn
Series: The Empress of Rome #2
Publication: April 5th 2011 by Berkley
Genre: Adult ~ Historical Fiction
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 5/5

A.D. 69. Nero is dead.

The Roman Empire is up for the taking. With bloodshed spilling out of the palace and into the streets of Rome, chaos has become the status quo. The Year of Four Emperors will change everything—especially the lives of two sisters with a very personal stake in the outcome….

Elegant and ambitious, Cornelia embodies the essence of the perfect Roman wife. She lives to one day see her loyal husband as Emperor. Her sister, Marcella, is more withdrawn, content to witness history rather than make it. Even so, Marcella has her share of distinguished suitors, from a cutthroat contender for the throne to a politician’s son who swears that someday he will be Emperor.

But when a bloody coup turns their world upside down, Cornelia and Marcella—along with their cousins, one a collector of husbands and lovers, the other a horse-mad beauty with no interest in romance—must maneuver carefully just to stay alive. As Cornelia tries to pick up the pieces of her shattered dreams, Marcella discovers a hidden talent for influencing the most powerful men in Rome. In the end, though, there can only be one Emperor … and one Empress.

Daughters of Rome was an excellent read. I'm a huge fan of books set in ancient Rome and Kate Quinn really captured my attention with this book. 

This book is about four women all different from one another. They all intrigued me in their own way and nobody is really what she seems at first because due to events happening in this book they all quite change. 

I liked all main characters and I found myself liking one character but disliking her in the next few chapters. But my favorite of the four was Diana. I suspect this is because she's also in A Day of Fire where Kate Quinn has a short story in. But really, I enjoyed reading about all of them because they evolved and changed so much through the book.

The story was also really action-packed, which surprised me in a good way. There were some brutal scenes that made me pause a little bit but I really liked this aspect of the book. Most historical fiction books I have read weren't quite like this. I loved it. 

The writing was wonderful as well. It really took me to the age the book was set in and yet it read very easily. So yes, consider me a fan!  And I'm also looking forward to reading the other books in this series soon! 

       About the Author:

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Kate Quinn is a native of southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Classical Voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance detailing the early years of the infamous Borgia clan. All have been translated into multiple languages.

Kate has succumbed to the blogging bug, and keeps a blog filled with trivia, pet peeves, and interesting facts about historical fiction. She and her husband now live in Maryland with a small black dog named Caesar, and her interests include opera, action movies, cooking, and the Boston Red Sox.